So You’ve Got A Business Idea, Now What?

So, you’ve got your business idea. You’ve validated it with the idea-o-meter and you’re ready to get started.

Great! So what comes next?

Maybe you’re thinking the next step is to build your website, right? WRONG.

In this video, I’ll tell you what you need to do BEFORE you even start thinking about your website.

When you’ve decided you want to build your own house do you go out and immediately start buying bricks? No, you don’t. When you’re going to be building something physical, you start by mapping it out – you make a plan.

You get clear on what kind of house you want, how you want to feel in that house, what rooms you need, what materials you need and THEN the building process can begin.

The same is true for business.

Once you have a business idea the next stage is get some foundations in place

Ask yourself the following questions:

What is your Unique Value Proposition?

How are you different to other businesses in your niche?

What do you bring to the table that no one else does?

How do you want people to feel when they get to your website?

What is your brand personality?

These are all questions you should know the answers to BEFORE you start building a website. Like having the plans for a house.

And these aren’t the kinds of questions you can necessarily answer in an afternoon!

The same way it takes time for an architect and contractors to plan to build a house, it will take some time for you to work out the answers to these questions.

You will need all this information for when you’re building your website anyway

Many people start by picking a template, but really, the first step in creating your website should be creating what will go in the website. You’ll need to have your offers figured out, write your copy and create your images before putting it together into a website.

Answering these questions about your business first will make putting together all that content much easier.

Because how can you write compelling copy if you don’t know what your unique value is? How will you know what kinds of images to choose if you don’t know how you want people to feel when they get to your site?

This kind of deep, thoughtful work will lay a strong foundation for your business. The website is really just the walls and paint colors in this metaphor – and those can be easily changed – while the foundation must remain solid.

If you try to make it up as you go along it’s going to show

If your customers can sense any confusion they just won’t buy. They have to trust that you know what you’re doing!

So, if you want to have a business that gives people a consistent message and leads them to buy, make sure to do the work first.

Now I’d like to hear from you

Have you had a business idea? What is it?

Have you ever gone straight into the website development stage from your idea? How did it go for you? Were you able to make a success of it?

3 Responses to So You’ve Got A Business Idea, Now What?

I’m about to redo my website Cat and the timing on this video is perfect. Your words are so wise. I especially love asking how I want my readers to feel when they get to my website. This has potentially saved me a lot of time and money. Thanks again Cat!

I feel like this is SO important in the beginning stages – but picking logos and colors and websites is so much fun! It’s easy to get distracted by the bright, shiny things. This is a FANTASTIC fist stage for developing your business.